Mortician&#39;s lamp



NOV. 20, 1934. R, SNYDER I 1,981,375

MORTICIANS LAMP Filed July 22, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 JNIZEJVJUA JZESNYDEJL l T T UENE'YE.

Nov. 20, 1934. R. E. SNYDER 1,931,375

, MORTIGIANS LAMP Filed July 22, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 fir- Ma num Nov. 20, 1934. R. E. SNYDER S LAMP Filed July 22, 1955 MORTICIAN 3 Sheets-Sheet I5 w 1T y m l m w Wm 3 @y M W y lTTUJmzEIi Patented Nov. 20, 1934 MOR'IICIANS LAMP Robert Earl Snyder, Pasadena, Calif., assignor of one-half to Fred L. Harter, Los Angeles,

Calif.

Application July 22, 1933, Serial No. 681,749

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a morticians lamp.

An object of the invention is to provide a morticians lamp of simple and durable construction which enables easy and quick adjustment '5 of the lamp so as to vary the intensity of the light thrown and to enable proper adjustment as to the direction in which the light is thrown.

In funeral work it is highly desirable to have the light thrown upon the corpse in a casket and 1 properly adjusted so as to bring out the high at that the lights be so adjusted with respect to the casket that no light will be thrown in the direction of the audience nor shall members of the audience who may be passing the casket cast shadows upon the corpse.

The present invention has for its objects to provide a lamp which will satisfactorily accomplish the above mentioned considerata, and also a lamp which can be nicely hidden or concealed in flowers.

More specifically, an object of the invention is to provide a morticians lamp consisting of a main housing in which is pivotally mounted a lamp housing, the parts being so arranged that the side of the lamp housing through which the 3 light may project can there assume a position in registration with the open side of the main housing, under which condition alight of greatest intensity is thrown from the lamp, and which may 7 be adjusted so as to cause the lamp housing to 4 assume a position at full registration with the main housing, in which position the intensity of the light thrown is reduced.

A further object of the invention is to provide a morticians lamp which is so designed that it 5 may be mounted on a standard or removed from the standard and allowed to rest on any suitable support such as a portion of the casket itself to enable the light to be thrown on to the corpse in the desired manner. While the lamp has been primarily designed for, use by morticians it is apparent that it may be used under other circumstances as the occasion may require.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will be made manifest in the following detailed description and specifically pointed out in the appended claims, reference is had to the accompanying drawings for an illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of the improved morticians lampillustrating it in a position wherein it is allowed to rest on any suitable support.

Fig. 2 is a view in end elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the morticians lamp, the lamp being shown as having been mounted 'upon a suitable standard.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken substantially upon the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken substantially upon the line 5-5 of Fig. 4, the lamp housing being illustrated as having beenturned in full registration with open side of the main housing.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 but taken upon the line 6--6 upon Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a vertical section taken substantially upon the line 7-7 upon Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is a detail in section illustrating the clamping mechanism associated with the main housing for adjustably supporting the lamp on a standard.

Fig. 9 is'a horizontal section taken substantially upon the line 9-9 upon Fig. 8.

Referring to the accompanying drawings 1 wherein similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout, the improved lamp consists of a main housing 10 which is generally of semicylindrical form having an open side 11. The housing has end walls 12 and 13 which are extended to provide straight edges 14'constituting feet for the housing on which it may rest when removed from a supporting standard. Within the housing there is disposed a lamp housing which is also generally of semicylindrical form indicated at 15 and having end walls 16 and 17. The forward side of the lamp housing is open and normally covered or closed by a light diffusing glass or lens 18 which isretained in place by a retaining frame 19 which is secured to the corners of the lamp housing by means of screws 20; but glass or lens 18 may or may not be colored, and preferably this glass or lens is ground so as to diffuse the light projected therethrough. The interior of the lamp housing 15 may be formed with a reflecting surface; however, where this element is made of a casting or aluminum, 'diecasting metal or equivalent bright metal it is unnecessary to provide any special internal refleeting surface.

Within the lamp housing there is disposed an electric lamp indicated at 21, and while. it is not .iCGlfllIl member which is disposed toward the lamp housing there is secured a series of contacts, one

, a bearing therefor.

essential to have an electric lamp having an elongated cylindrical bulb it is preferable. This bulb may also be colored or transparent and may or may not be of ground glass. The bulb is disposed longitudinally in the lamp housing and is mounted in a lamp socket 22 which may be of conventional construction. One type of conventional lamp socket has a base indicated at 23 which is internally threaded. The lamp housing is pivotally mounted within the main housing 10, the pivot at one end being formed merely by a screw 24 extending through end 13 of the main housing and into end wall 16 of the lamp housing. A washer 25 is interposed between the housings. At the opposite end the piv'ot'is provided'by an arbor 26 having a screwdriver's'eal27 in its outer end. This arbor extends through end Wall 12 of the main housing through a porcelainmember 28 hereinafter to be described, which is disposed inside of the main housing and has'a reduced :threaded end 29.jThe reduced end extends through end wall 17 of the lamp housing and screws into base 23 of the lamp socket. On tightening the arbor the lamp socket is tightened against the inside of end wall 17 and arbor 26 .is rigidly fastened to the lamp housing so as to be capable of turning in end wall 12 which provides The arrangement is such as to have the lamp housing pivot or turn about an axis which is coincident with the longitudinal axis of lamp 21 and particularly the center of the filaments of the lamp. In this way turning the lamp housing does not move the light source toward or away from the field to be illuminated which might render adjustment difficult.

.Member 28 is an insulating member preferably .formed of porcelain, having several apertured .bosses 30 through which bolts extend, indicated at 31, and which are screwed into end wall 12 of the main housing. The forward edge of the porcelain member 28 is widened to cover the gap betweenthe forward edge of end wall 12 and the forward side of the lamp housing. On this porcelain member a type of rheostat is provided. Grooves indicated at 32 are formed in the face 01 the'porcelain member receiving a length of coil resistance wire 33. On that'side of the porcontact indicated" at 34 being relatively long. Fourothercontacts indicated at 35, 36, 3'7 and 38 are also mounted on the same side of the porcelain Contact 36 is connected through the Contact 38 is connected to The terminals lamp socket22 to two brushes 39 and 40 which are mounted on the outer side of the lamp housing. Brush 40,is arranged to engage contact 34 --:and will always remain in contact therewith re- :,gardless of position "assumed by the lamp housing.. Brush 39 is arranged to wipe across con-' tacts 35, 36, 37 and 38. Lead wires 41 and 42 lead from a source of electric current to contacts 34 and '38 respectively. The arrangement is such that when the lamp housing is so adjusted as to be in complete registration with the open side of housing 10 or, in other words, lens 18 is inthe plane of the'open side 11 of housing 10,brush 40 :en'gages contact 34 and brush 39 engages contact 38. In this position all resistance of therheostat isicut .out so that a maximum amount of current 5; supplied to the lamp. causing the lamp to;

the light to a greater extent.

"posed a slidable plungerjfor latch 49. plunger or latch carries a handle:fprojecting generate a light of maximum intensity and which is projected through lens 18 on to the field. By turning lamp housing 15 the brush 39 may be caused to selectively engage either of contacts 37, 36 or 35, while the brush 40 remains in contact with contact 34. When brush 40 engages contact 37 one half of resistance 33 is placed in series withthe lamp, reducing the intensity of the light thrownbythe lamp when'the lamp housing is tilted from the full registering position. A further tilting causes brush 39 to engage contact 36. placing the entire resistance 33 in a series with thelamp and thus reducing the intensity of When brush 39 engages contact 35, which is not connected to the resistance, the circuit through the lamp is broken. The number of contacts 35, 36, 3'7 and 38 may be the casket itself or any adjacenthorizontal support. As occasion may requirev thelamp housing]; may be adjusted so that itisin full registration with the open side of the main. housing. in which case a light of maximum intensity islgenerated by the lamp and thrown on to .the field. Such an adjustment may be desiredwhen the L lamp is located considerably from the 'face of the' corpse. If, however, a proper adjustment of the lighting requires the lamp to .be placed closer or at the back of the casket it maybe necessary to tiltthe lamp housing into the position similar; to thatshown on Figs. -5 and- 6. Under these" circumstances instead of .merely' directing an intense light downwardly into the casket the turning of the lamp housing automatically cuts any resistance, reducing 'thecurrent supply to the,

so that the greater the-downward tilting the more reduced in intensity the light is that is generated by the lamp. In this way by proper increased orv decreased over the number shown lamp and reducing the light generated'therebyf" or judicious location of various lamps and judicious tilting of the lamphousings practically any desired lighting effect may beproduced to give the natural'life-like appearance to the face of the corpse. Furthermoralinthe event that the lamp is located at .the.ba'ck of the casket .13o 1 the tilting of the lamp. housing is such as to out 01f the light so that it will not be thrown directly into the eyes of theaudience, but will be confined to illuminating the field in'the casket.

I In some instances it is 'desired'to' mount the.

lamp on-a portable standardadjacent to the casket and to this end themain housing 10 is provided at its back with, a "fitting 45' having an opening 46 therethroug'h 'Whichwill receive a cylindrical rod or 's'tandardf47. 1 An inclined bore 48 is formed. in thejfitting' in which is dis- This through an opening' i5l inf theflfltting by which the plunger or latch can be'flretracted against the action of coil spring-'52. When the handle is released coilfspring 52 .urges thef plunger or and. thus.holdmg thei entire' morticians lamp in any vertical position or in any rotated position with respect to the cylindrical standard. When the lamp is mounted on a standard it operates as above described and has virtually the same advantages enabling the desired lighting effect to be easily accomplished.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:-

1. A lamp of the class described comprising a main housing having an open side, a lamp housing having a side through which light may be projected, pivotally mounted in the main housing, a lamp in the lamp housing, a means for turning the lamp housing so as to move the light projecting side of the lamp housing into or out of complete registration with the open side of the main housing, a means providing a rheostat between the main housing and lamp housing operatively connected thereto so that on turning the lamp housing in the main housing the intensity of light generated by the lamp will automatically be varied.

2. A lamp of the class described comprising a main housing having an open side, a lamp housing having a side through which light may be projected, pivotally mounted in the main housing, a lamp in the lamp housing, a means for turning the lamp housing so as to move the light projecting side of the lamp housing into or out of complete registration with the open side of the main housing, a means providing a rheostat between the main housing and the lamp housing operatively connected thereto so as to cause the lamp to generate the strongest light when in full registering position with respect to the main housing and to automatically decrease the intensity of light when the lamp housing is turned from full registering position.

3. A lamp of the class described comprising an open sided main housing, a lamp housing pivotally mounted therein having a side through which light may pass, and adapted to assume a posimain housing operable to vary the intensity of light generated by the lamp upon rotation of the lamp housing.

4. A lamp of the class described comprising an open sided main housing, a lamp housing pivotal- 1y mounted therein having a side through which light may pass, and adapted to assume a position in registration with the open side of the main housing, and a lamp in the lamp housing, the longitudinal axis of which is coincident with the axis of rotation of the lamp housing, brushes in circuit with the lamp and carried by the lamp housing, a resistance means on the main housing adapted to be placed in circuit with the lamp by the brushes on rotating the lamp housing whereby on rotating the lamp housing the intensity of light generated by the lamp may be varied.

5. A lamp of the class described comprising an open sided main housing, a lamp housing pivotally mounted therein having a side through which light may pass, and adapted to assume a position in registration with the open side of the main housing, and a lamp in the lamp housing, the longitudinal axis of which is coincident with the axis of rotation of the lamp housing, brushes in circuit with the lamp and carried by the lamp housing, a resistance means on the main housing adapted to be placed in circuit with the lamp by the brushes on rotating the lamp housing whereby on rotating the lamp housing the intensity of light generated by the lamp may be varied, said resistance means being so arranged as to generate light of the greatest intensity when the lamp housing is in full registering position with respect to the open side of the main housing.

6. A lamp of the class described comprising an open sided main housing, a lamp housing pivotally mounted therein having a side through which light may pass, and adapted to assume a position in registration with the open side of the main housing, and a lamp in the lamp housing, the longitudinal axis of which is coincident with the axis of rotation of the lamp housing, a lens, means for mounting the lens on the mentioned side of the lamp housing, and means providing a rheostat between the lamp housing and main housing in circuit with the lamp and operable upon rotation of the lamp housing to vary the intensity of light generated by the lamp.

ROBERT E. SNYDER. 

